Staff WriterThe G4D Open found a suitably dramatic stage at Celtic Manor Resort, where Simon Seungmin Lee of the Republic of Korea and Germany’s Jennifer Sräga both walked through the final-hole furnace and came out holding the silverware.
This was not gentle trophy-gathering. This was cold hands, tight lies, closing pars, an eagle scare, a double-bogey heartbreak and all the usual nonsense golf throws at people when it senses a pulse.
Over the Roman Road Course in Wales, Lee and Sräga each secured their first victories at The G4D Open, both by a single stroke, both after final-day tension that made the 18th feel less like a golf hole and more like an interrogation room.
Lee Holds Firm After Late Eagle Drama
Simon Seungmin Lee, number two on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability, arrived at The G4D Open as a debutant but played the last like a man who had mislaid his nerves somewhere back on the front nine.
The 28-year-old, who is autistic, closed with a one-over-par 71 to finish on three-over 213 for 54 holes. That was enough to edge Issa Nlareb A Amang of Cameroon by one shot, with Australia’s Lachlan Wood third on 219.
Lee’s final par at the 18th proved the decisive act. It sounds simple enough on paper, but golf on paper is a civilised activity. Golf with a championship in the balance is something else entirely.
“I’m feeling great. I wasn’t able to play in The G4D Open in previous years because of my domestic tournament schedule, so I’m really happy that the days worked out this year and I could finally come and compete here.
“The course was very tough and there were many outstanding competitors. So it’s a big honour for me to win such a great championship. My mother is also here so I’m happy.
“I was so surprised at the shot Issa made, an eagle on the 17th. Wow! I admire him. This is my second time coming back to the UK and my first time in Wales. I couldn’t imagine that one day I would finally return as a professional golfer and win a championship like this. Standing here today feels very special to me.”
Lee’s victory adds another significant title to a growing record that already includes the 2022 US Adaptive Open, the 2025 ISPS HANDA Australian All Abilities Championship and three consecutive wins at the Glico Paragolf Championship in Japan.
Nlareb A Amang Nearly Produces The Twist
If Lee’s win was built on control, Issa Nlareb A Amang’s challenge had the full cinematic wobble of a man trying to beat both the field and the weather.
The 35-year-old from Cameroon pulled within one shot of Lee at the 17th after producing a glorious 40-yard chip-in for eagle with a 9-iron. It was the kind of shot that makes a leaderboard twitch and everyone else start counting backwards.
But the cold final-day conditions left their mark. Nlareb A Amang, who carded a closing 73, struggled badly on the greens and finished with 40 putts.
“I was unlucky the way I played this week. It was not my week. Today with the rain and the cold I couldn’t feel my fingers. I couldn’t feel my feet. I felt very cold on the golf course, but I tried to manage, and I was unlucky because I had a lot of putts near the hole or around it. I made a lot of three-putts, maybe 40 putts today.
“Even when I got the eagle two on the 17th I wanted to push on, but I couldn’t putt today. So that’s the game of golf. You can hit the ball far, but if your short game is not there you are in trouble. Simon was so solid, he didn’t miss any putts. He was playing so well with his putting.”
His presence in contention was remarkable in itself. A professional golfer before 2018, Nlareb A Amang had both legs amputated and suffered severe damage to his hands after bacterial meningitis. His return to elite competition has been extraordinary, and his win at last month’s EDGA Tour Pas de Calais in France showed that his game, like his resolve, is very much alive.
Lawlor Charges, Then Stalls
Defending men’s champion Brendan Lawlor briefly looked ready to turn the final day into a personal resurrection.
The Irishman tore through the front nine in four-under 33, the best outward half of the week, and climbed into second place. For a while, a third title seemed not only possible but actively lurking.
Then came the Roman Road reminder that golf is quite capable of putting its foot through your front door without knocking. Lawlor dropped six shots from the 12th and finished tied fifth on 11-over.
World number one Kipp Popert ended two shots further back, sharing seventh place.
Sräga Denies Van Houten A Hat-Trick
In the women’s championship, Jennifer Sräga produced her own final-hole answer to pressure, denying Daphne van Houten a third straight title.
Sräga, 26, finished on 246, one shot clear of the Dutch player, after making a vital par at the 18th while van Houten made double bogey. Denmark’s Mette Wegge Lynggaard was third on 252.
The German had finished second in the women’s overall Championship on debut last year, and there was no great mystery about her aim this time around. She came to Celtic Manor to improve one place. She did exactly that.
Born with achondroplasia, commonly called short stature, Sräga made two important birdies on the front nine and then did the hardest thing in golf: she finished the job.
“It feels great. I came here with the aim to win because last year it was a little bit sad. This year I tried to stay strong, stay focused on the last hole. I’m really happy that this year I made it. I’m really proud because it means so much to me. It was my goal to have this thick, huge trophy in my hand. Now I’m happy that I can take it.
“It’s always a special win to achieve at The G4D Open and I love playing here. I’m really excited playing here because here we feel almost like true professionals. It’s really awesome.”
Van Houten’s Brave Defence Falls Just Short
For Daphne van Houten, the final hole was cruel. Her pursuit of a hat-trick ended by the width of one shot, but the story was far bigger than a number on a scorecard.
The 27-year-old has been dealing with Long COVID for three years, and the physical toll of three competitive rounds was plain.
“I’m disappointed to finish second but I have to be happy because I have had Long COVID for three years now and I’m struggling. I would have burst out in tears either way, if I won or lost, because it’s such a battle to play three rounds in a row. I should be happy with myself but I’m very frustrated because of the illness.
“Three years ago, it would have been a par for sure on the last but I knew I’m not playing well. But it’s an amazing venue and I’m so happy that I played.”
It was an honest, bruising assessment, and all the more powerful for it. Elite sport can be dressed in leaderboards and trophies, but sometimes the most telling measure is simply the cost of getting round.
Celtic Manor Makes Its G4D Open Debut
This year’s G4D Open was staged at Celtic Manor Resort for the first time, following three previous editions at Woburn.
Held in partnership between the DP World Tour and The R&A, and supported by EDGA, the Championship brought together 80 amateur and professional players, men and women, aged from 16 to 70, representing 25 countries.
Nineteen players made their Championship debut, including Celtic Manor member Richie Willis.
The Roman Road Course, already part of Welsh golf history, staged three editions of the Wales Open on the DP World Tour from 2005 to 2007 while the Twenty Ten Course was being built for the Ryder Cup. It also hosted the Wales Senior Open in 2015 and 2016.
That pedigree mattered. Celtic Manor did not merely provide a venue; it provided weather, slope, scrutiny and a proper tournament examination. In other words, it behaved exactly as a championship course should.
Sport Class Winners At The G4D Open
The G4D Open featured nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups, spanning Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting categories.
A gross prize was awarded in each sport class.
Men’s Gross Prize Winners
- Intellectual 1: Simon Seungmin Lee, Republic of Korea
- Intellectual 2: Thomas Colombel, France
- Standing 1: Issa Nlareb A Amang, Cameroon
- Standing 2: Kipp Popert, England
- Standing 3: Lachlan Wood, Australia
- Sitting 1: Lee York, England
- Sitting 2: Max Togisala, USA
- Visual 2: Kiefer Jones, Canada
Women’s Gross Prize Winners
- Intellectual 1: Natasha Stasiuk, Canada
- Intellectual 2: Michelle Lau, England
- Standing 1: Mette Wegge Lynggaard, Denmark
- Standing 2: Aimi Bullock, England
- Standing 3: Jennifer Sräga, Germany
- Visual 1: Mette Havnaas, Norway
Daily highlights from the Championship are available on The R&A’s YouTube channel, with further coverage due to air on Sky Sports Golf later this month.
A Championship With Proper Bite
The best tournament recaps often come down to who blinked last. At Celtic Manor, Simon Seungmin Lee and Jennifer Sräga did not.
Lee absorbed the shock of Nlareb A Amang’s late eagle and found the par he needed. Sräga stood on the final hole with last year’s near-miss still in the background and gave herself the finish she had come for.
The G4D Open is often described through the language of inclusion, and rightly so. But this week was also a reminder that inclusion does not soften competition. It sharpens it, broadens it and gives the game more stories worth telling.
At Celtic Manor, two new champions were crowned. Neither got there by sentiment. They got there the old-fashioned way: by surviving golf when golf was in a particularly bad mood.
Final scores from the sport classes can be viewed here.
